Innocense Lost
by Vivian Caidin
Summary: A continuation of In a Broken World. More changes have taken place and now they have to contend with Angelus and the Judge. The Scoobies will never be the same again.
1. Prologue

Title: Innocence Lost

Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns Buffy, James Cameron owns Dark Angel, possibly other crossovers later on.

Pairing: Xander/Cordelia

Rating: T and PG for language and content.

Spoilers: Dark Angel is set at the end of season 2. Buffy is set during season 2 "The Innocence".

Summary: A continuation of In a Broken World. More changes have taken place and now they have to contend with Angelus.

Author's Note: This is based on Challenge 1405: Not so broken world submitted by Ladeia from Twisting the Hellmouth.

Prologue

...A Change Will Do You Good...

Unknown to his parents, and his friends, Xander had moved out of the house he had lived in for all of his life. Xander knew that if he stayed at home and something happened with his father, he could be a danger to the old man now. So he had left home not long after Halloween.

Once Alec had escaped the clutches of Manticore, he had been living on his own for a year, then six months with Josh before they had all moved to Terminal City.

Recently, he had found a barely livable apartment in the demon district that reminded him of the place he had taken over when Brain had been killed.

Wheeling and dealing, the young transgenic had gained contacts through Willie. Xander did not really want to use the snitch, but since he was still a minor, it was better to go to someone who had his finger on the pulse of the underworld.

He continued to go to school to give the illusion of normalcy, but Xander Harris had started extracurricular slaying outside of the group of Slayerettes.

Plans within plans forced the young man to do additional patrols where he would rob from the leech and give to the poor, namely himself.

...What's the Dealio...

There was a line behind Xander Harris at the school payphone and he ignored everyone's complaints as he had one ear to the payphone and the other to the cell phone he had swiped from a Lava Demon he had killed last week.

'A guy has to make a living other than stealing from vampires and demons,' he had reasoned with himself previously.

He continued his conversation with a buyer.

Cordelia Chase walked down the hall and noticed the young man on the phone. 'This looks familiar,' she said to herself with a smirk and walked toward the pay phone.

Xander did not even notice, actual or purposeful, the female transgenic was unsure, as she approached and he continued with both phone calls.

Into the pay phone he said, "The merchandise will be in today."

Into the other phone he said, "It's in, right?"

Back to the pay phone, "Yep, it's confirmed. You can meet me at The Espresso Pump at 4:30 and we'll make the exchange. $25,000.00 right?"

"Excuse me," Cordelia said with a cat who ate the cream smile on her face.

Xander turned to her as he said into both phones, "Hang on." Unguarded he spoke, "Trying to do a little business here, Maxie, okay?"

Cordelia rolled her eyes at his slip as she eyed the line behind him, "People need the phone, are you gonna hog it all day?"

He waved his cell phone at her, "Just a minute…" He focused back on the pay phone, "Hello? It's a deal right?"

Cordelia smiled, she remembered this part. She smiled at the people behind the tall, dark haired teen and hung up his call on the pay phone.

Turning an annoyed glare on her Xander said, "You know, you didn't have to do that."

Cordy shook her head and walked down the hall.

The X5 ran to catch up with her hefting his blue messenger bag onto his shoulder as he rushed.

"I'll forgive you," he said brightly, "I always do." He then put the cell phone to his hear, "Hello? Yeah… everything's set… I'll meet you at 3. Right… Later." He closed the flip and put the phone in his bag as they head to their first class of the day.


	2. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

…Some Assembly Required…

Xander entered through the double doors.

Rupert Giles asked him if he had found out anything in reference to the Judge's arrival so he had checked the train station and the bus terminal.

"The bus depot was a bust," he said at the end of a sigh as he moved to sit on the table and swung his legs. "And I will tell you that it's not the best place to stay the night," he groused. "Just a wide variety of the spice of life," he smirked.

Jenny Calendar and Willow Rosenburg looked at him in concerned confusion.

Cordelia, from her own perch, looked equally concerned.

"No one transporting anything suspicious?" Giles asked exasperated as he cleaned his glasses.

"No," Xander shrugged and smirked sarcastically, "but a wino did offer to pay me so he could touch me in the naughty place."

Cordelia hopped off the countertop and rushed to slap him in the shoulder.

"Ouch!" the dark haired teen yelped and glared at her. "Always with the hitting!" he complained.

"Shut up or I'll kick your ass," she said as she sat down in a chair at the table.

The others looked at them strangely.

"What is the fascination with my ass?" he asked her. He turned to Willow and asked, "Where's Buffy?"

The red head shrugged, "Not a clue."

"Do you think that Judge guy is assembled already?" Xander asked no one in particular.

"Yes," Giles confirmed.

Suddenly a shrill ringing interrupted the calm of the school library.

Xander held up a hand and hopped off the table as he walked away putting his phone up to his ear, "Talk to me."

The others goggled at him as he spoke to one of his contacts.

"Okay, yeah…" he listened. "What? No, just be careful… You don't wanna get caught… That's fine," he said as he hung up the phone.

Cordelia turned away from him with a shake of her head and looked at the others, "So, what? This thing is assembled and all we can do is be afraid and die?"

"That about sums it up," Giles said as he eyed Xander cautiously.

"We need to look for the Buffmeister," Xander said as he turned back to them.

"We're going to the factory?" Willow asked excitedly.

"Yeah," he confirmed as he slung his messenger bag across his shoulders.

Buffy took that moment to enter.

"We were just gonna rally the troops," Xander quipped as he watched the young woman move to sit at the table.

"Where's Angel?" Willow asked as she looked at the blonde.

"Don't know," she sounded upset.

"What happened?" Cordy asked as she touched the Slayer's shoulder sympathetically. In the recent past, Cordelia Chase had shaped into a good friend to all of the Scoobies.

"The Judge is active," Buffy's tone was harder than she had wanted it to be.

"What?" Giles and Xander said at the same time as the turned to look at her.

"No assembly required," Buffy quipped.

No one notice the silent communication that went on when Xander and Cordelia locked gazes.

"Angel got me out, otherwise that thing would have killed me," the Slayer said as she placed her head in her hands on the table.

Xander's cell phone wrung once again and he turned to answer it tuning the whole room out. "Yeah," he said as he put his finger in his other ear to get rid of the annoyingly raised voices.

Buffy began to leave and Willow followed her out the door.

Snapping his phone shut, Xander looked at the older man before he said, "After classes I'll come by to help you out."

Cordelia bumped him with her shoulder as she said, "You might find a useful book, something like 'I Don't Need a Phone Attached to My Ear 24/7'."

Xander looked at her and rolled his eyes as they left the library together.


	3. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

…Mysterious Research!!!…

Xander slammed the tome closed in frustration as he jumped up from his slumped position on the table.

He stormed down the aisle between two rows of books to look for more damned books.

He put the ancient text where he had pulled it off the shelf and took another old book from the same shelf. As the young transgenic headed back to the table he spotted Cordy out of the corner of his eye down another row of books.

Book in hand, he moved to stand next to her, "Find anything?"

"This book," she held it up for his inspection, "doesn't give any helpful info. Huge, ugly, no weapon forged by man can stop him. It took an army to take him down." She shook her head and shelved the book, "Blah, blah, woof, woof."

Xander smiled down at her, "There has to be a weakness… something." He trailed off, thoughtfully.

"This is useless," Cordy said as she looked up at him.

"I'm sorry if I offended you earlier by what I said," he said as he leaned against the shelf and looked down at her crowding her in the confine space of the stacks.

She shrugged, not concerned at all, "I'm not worried about it."

"I really didn't mean any offense by it," he tried to continue.

She cut him off with a hand on his chest, "You were just joking around, I understand."

"Do I get an A for effort?" he asked with a smirk as he got closer to her and leaned down slightly.

She rolled her eyes, "No."

He moved to trap her with his arms against the shelf behind her, "Can we kiss now?"

The May Queen smiled up at him as she grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him down to her level, "I'm okay with kissing."

Xander smiled as they shared a deep, passionate kiss. He pulled back and they shared a smile.

The pair turned as one as they sensed the presence of someone behind them. Sure enough, Willow stood there, upset.

Mirrored owlish blinks in two pairs of near black eyes watched the red head run away.

"Sorry, Maxie," Xander said as he blurred to follow his best friend from childhood.

Cordelia sagged weakly against the shelves as she tried to lower her heart rate and control her breathing.

…I'm Just Confessing 'bout the Things I Did…

Xander quickly caught up with the hacker.

Willow ran out of the library with the dark haired youth at her heals.

"Come on, Wils!" he protested as he reached to grab her shoulder.

Xander had to stop short so that he would not plough into her as Willow stopped suddenly and turned to face him. "I knew there was something going on between the two of you," she nearly snarled as she jabbed a finger in his chest. "You snap at each other more than ever, that's not normal."

Xander shrugged, "Its weird, I'll give you that…"

She cut him off, "Weird? It goes against all laws of physics. That's Cordelia in there!" She protested as she threw her hands into the air, "You do remember the 'We Hate Cordelia Club'? Of which, you are the Vice President."

"I was gonna tell you," he said quickly as he ran a hand through his shaggy hair to the back of his neck to rub his barcode. 'I need a haircut,' he thought to himself.

"Are you ashamed of yourself?" the red head asked almost pleadingly.

"Don't overreact," he spread his heads in a placating gesture.

"But…" Willow protested.

"We were just kissing," Xander said with a roll of his eyes, "It's not like we were rutting like Leopards."

Her mouth fell open in shock as she looked at him in stunned silence. She pointed at him angrily, "You'd rather be with someone you hate than with me!"

'I don't hate her,' was left unsaid. "That's not it!" Xander protested. "If I went with you it would be like I were with my sister."

Willow's mouth dropped open in shocked surprise, she huffed then ran.

Xander watched his best friend from childhood run from him with a self-depreciating frown on his face. He shook his head then went back into the library.


	4. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

…High School Confidential…

Xander snapped his phone shut as he exited the men's room. He caught Willow's scent and noticed the hacker headed his way.

"Wil," he called as he stalked in her direction.

She folded her arm across her chest as she turned and walked away without saying a word.

"Hey!" the transgenic exclaimed as he followed her, his longer legs easily reaching her. "I'm sorry I didn't tell you about Cordy," he said as he caught up with her.

"Look," she said with a long suffering sigh as she stopped and turned to him, "I don't even wanna comprehend what disgusting things you do with her. Things are not okay with us, but that's not important right now."

Xander shrugged his shoulders slowly as he remained silent, most predators would think it was a threat. It was none of her business who he did what with and where, but he did not want to ruin their years of friendship.

"We can't do this without you," he said as he led the way to the library.

"How does it look with the Judge?" she asked as she presented a business like appearance.

"Every single book we've found said the same thing."

"No weapon forged," she said thoughtfully.

He nodded as he said, "It took an army."

"Yeah," Willow agreed, "Where's an army when you need one?"

Xander stopped in his tracks.

Willow turned toward him expectantly.

"I have a plan," the transgenic gave a self-satisfied smirked as he turned dark eyes on her.

In that moment, the lights blinked out.

"Why the hell do we keep having brown outs!?" Xander exclaimed as his pupils dilated to inhuman wideness to allow him to see in the dark.

"Let's get to the library," the young man said as he grabbed her arm and pulled.

Angel appeared in their path as if by magic, "Xander, Willow."

The hair at the back of the transgenic's neck stood on end. 'Something's not right,' he said to himself as he eyed the vampire cautiously. He pulled Willow slightly behind him.

"Angel," Willow exclaimed in relief, "You're okay, Buffy's been looking for you everywhere."

"Yeah, whatever," he said as he eyed the pair nearly hungrily, "Why's it so dark?"

"Brown out," Xander said by way of explanation, "Listen…"

The vampire cut him off, "I've got something to show you. Xander, go get Giles."

"Uh," Xander stepped more firmly in front of Willow. "How about no?" he said in a dead tone, emotion completely drained from his features as animal instinct took over completely.


	5. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

…Oh Mexican Standoff…

Angelus stared into eyes that reflected green from the emergency light behind him and thought it was a trick.

The vampire stepped forward, a smirk on his lips. "It's amazing," he said in near awe as he tried to push compulsion into the young man.

Xander's gaze hardened as he looked at the vampire, he nearly growled as his hackles rose even more. "What the hell are you doing, Angel?" he demanded in a hard tone as he pushed Willow fully behind him, his larger frame blocking the girl fully from the vampire.

Angelus smiled as he stepped forward once more, "Come on, sidekick, do as you're told. Go away."

"And I said I ain't leavin'," the transgenic said sternly as he kept the threat in his sights.

The tall vampire made to grab Willow but Xander shoved him away, harder than he gave the boy credit for.

"Don't," the teen warned as he crouched into the fighting stance of Krav Maga, a form of hand to hand combat that he had learned, had been studying since he could barely walk, as X5-494.

"I think I will," he tried again to grab the red head.

This time Alec was ready for the vampire. Not wanting to hurt the other man, the transgenic shoved a knee into his gut and pushed him forcefully away with the heel of his hand into Angel's solar plexus.

Meanwhile, Giles and Jenny had heard the commotion just outside the doors to the library and ran to investigate.

"He's not Angel," Jenny warned fearfully as she watched Xander Harris, her jokester of a student, push the larger man away like he weighed nearly nothing. She blinked a couple of times to make sure she was not imagining things.

Angelus, realizing his opponent was not the slouch he had originally though, stumbled away and crouched low as if to attack then said, "I have a message for Buffy, boyo."

Wishing he had a stake, Xander sneered and kept his eyes trained on the vampire, watching every minute move he made. If he had to, Alec was ready to tear Angel's head off with his bare hands to keep the ordinaries safe, friend or not.

"Why don't you give it to me now?" Buffy asked from behind the vampire.

Angel spun to face her as he said, "You're not supposed to be here." He tisked as he pointed a finger at her, "You're supposed to find the library littered with your friends' dead bodies."

"Make the first move, you son of a bitch," Xander said as he crouched lower, ready to attack at the first sign of movement. He was poised, like a predator on the hunt, ready to pounce.

"This isn't you," Buffy said as she looked at the undisguised visage of a master vampire.

"Wrong," he disagreed with a shake to his head. "I'm Angel..." he spread his arms wide like wings, "...at last."

Xander was coiled to spring, adrenaline working his body overtime as he growled low in his throat, a warning.

"Your boyfriend is gonna be first," the vampire warned with a head nod in Xander's direction. "You'd better put a leash on him."

"Leave my friends alone and deal with me," the blonde Slayer snapped at him taking her own fighting stance.

"They're so easy," Angelus said in a bored tone as he made to attack her.

Xander sprung into action as he dove toward the vampire. He sent a knife edged blow to the side of Angel's head with his right hand and followed it up with a roundhouse kick that hit the vamp in the chin.

Willow backpedaled toward the library as Angel roared and crashed hard into the wall across the hall from the trophy cases fifteen feet away.

The transgenic blurred to follow up and began another combo.

Angel backhanded Xander five feet away then rushed the Slayer. He grabbed her by the arms and growled in her face. "Things are gonna get interesting from here on out."

Xander kipped up into a ready stance as the blonde was shoved into a wall.

Angelus took off down the hall.

"You alright, Buf?" Xander asked as he helped her to her feet.

Buffy, stunned, watched in silence as the vampire retreated.

"Buffy?" Willow asked behind them, concern laced her voice.

…Afraid to Let Myself go…

If a person knew what to look for, they could sense his anger boiling at the surface. Giles' anger was palpable, and those sensitive could feel the energies pouring off of him in waves.

"Are you sure that it was Angelus out there and not Angel, Xander?" Giles asked as he stood with his back turned to the group.

"Positive," Xander said as he had to force himself not to stand at attention as he felt Giles' rage.

"What's gonna happen now?" Cordelia asked as she eyed the other transgenic in deep concern.

Xander frowned as he looked at Cordelia, his jaw set like it had been during the Jam Pony siege with the breeding cult.

He tuned the arguing out and brought his plan back to the forefront of his mind. 'It takes an army to stop it,' he thought to himself as he bit his thumbnail in contemplation. 'Well, one transgenic is like a ten man unit…' He looked over at Max who was watching the arguing intently, 'And there's two of us so it would be like twenty men.'


	6. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

…I Love It When a Plan Comes Together…

"We gotta destroy him like you shoot a rabid dog," Xander shouted at Buffy trying to get her to understand.

He watched as Buffy rushed out of the Library nearly in tears.

"What are we gonna do?" Cordelia asked as she turned her gaze on the other X5. "No weapon forged by man can kill it. And it takes an army to take it down." She frowned indignantly, "Instead of sweeping this little problem away like garbage, we should tackle it head on. We aughta make a stand."

Xander sighed as he spoke into the silence of her words, "I have a plan."

He paced away from the table then turned back to look at everyone in the room. Their focus was completely on him, though he could see the mutinous look on Willow's face.

With a sigh, he trudged on diligently, "I have a way to take care of this Judge thing."

"What is it, Xand?" Willow felt she had to encourage him.

"I'm gonna need Cordy for this job," he said as he looked between the two young women and he turned an apologetic gaze to Willow.

At the word 'job' the cat burglar sat up straighter in her chair. She could definitely practice her skills.

Willow visibly wilted.

"We'll need a ride," the young man continued.

"My car…" Cordelia began.

The X5 cut her off, "We need something bigger than that."

"I can get Oz to help," Willow perked up as she looked at her best friend, "he has a van."

Xander nodded as he turned back to the other X5.

"So what's the plan?" she tilted her head as she looked at him, her hands on her hips.

The young soldier smiled in that aggravating, self-satisfied way that he had when he was cooking up something that would get him into a heap of trouble. "Remember Sammy Sosa's baseball from his 756th home run? Just think if that didn't go sideways."

Max smiled as realization dawned.

"Meet me at Willow's at twenty-three thirty," Xander said before he left the library in a confident stride.

…You Ain't Gotta Sneak and Creep around No More...

On a back road almost to Kern, California, Oz had driven out to Edwards Air Force Base.

Xander and Cordelia, pupils exceptionally large to penetrate the night, watched through the windshield in Oz' van as the troops were marching past on the inside of the fence.

"Stay put," Xander said as he also used the hand signal. "That window over there," he pointed fifteen clicks away, "When it opens move the ladder into position and we'll send the box over."

The pair had dressed alike in black, formfitting bodysuits, though Xander had a black, motorcycle jacket with red stripes down the sleeves to go with his cat burglar outfit. They both wore black leather boots and gloves.

Both transgenics exited the van quietly and blended into the night.

Both red heads waited inside the van.

"I wish that window would open right now," Willow said as she watched the bland gray building with a frown on her face. It was night time; all of the buildings looked gray.

"You guys steal from the army a lot?" Oz asked as he watched her more than he watched the night.

"No," she said as she shook her head. "We make our own fun any way we can," she said in a perky tone.

There was a long stretch of silence.

"Wanna make out?" she whispered.

"Excuse me?!" Oz sounded startled, stunned.

"Never mind," the hacker sounded dejected.

"Sometimes I think about kissin' you," the musician said with a smirk as he looked at her out of the corner of his eye.

Willow smiled as she continued to look outside, waiting impatiently for the signal.

"I'm not gonna kiss you," Oz said into the long silence.

"Why?" she protested as she turned to look at him.

"When I kiss you," he whispered, "I want you to know that it's me kissin' you. I don't want to play second fiddle to Xander."

She watched as he left the van, her eyes focused on him now instead of the night.

…Two…

Far enough away from the van that the pair would not be able to see them, Xander and Cordy vaulted the twelve foot fence easily and landed lightly on the other side.

Shoulder to shoulder, as natural instincts took over, the transgenics had to force themselves not to march toward the armory.

"The security is lax here, maybe we should submit a report," he joked as they moved together.

They crouched low behind an armored truck as a few guards passed.

Enhanced hearing picked up a group of soldiers headed in their direction. Cordy dropped to the ground and rolled under the truck.

Peaking around the truck after the unit passed by, Alec inhaled quickly as he stepped toward the armory and stopped on instinct.

"Halt!" the guard demanded.

Xander put his hands out at his sides in supplication as he turned toward the Military Police on duty.

"Identify yourself, now, soldier," the guard demanded.

Straightening, thinking quickly, Xander responded automatically, "Lieutenant Colonel Alec MacDowell… with the 33rd."

"The 33-rd is currently on maneuvers," the guard nearly growled as he began to reach for his weapon.

Xander glanced at the other man's rank insignia, put a hand forward soothingly and responded, "That's right, I'm on a day pass for a family emergency. Do you really want to challenge my authority, Sergeant?" He stepped closer to the other man, as though threatening, full on Colonel attitude perfectly, seamlessly, in place.

"No, sir," the SF gave a crisp salute as he snapped to attention.

Xander saluted the other man so he could put his hand down and continued, "Thank you, soldier, as you were."

The guard, summarily dismissed, left the immediate area at the fastest clip possible.

The other transgenic watched the egress of the guard as she left her hiding location and returned to the young man's side.

"What's that all about, Alec?" she inquired. "Lieutenant Colonel, my ass," she said as she followed him to the armory. "And another thing," she continued, "the sixes and eight, at the farm… and the Xs in TC, they reacted to you the same way…"

He cut her off, "Can it, Maxie. I'll explain later… once he realizes that there's no Lieutenant Colonel Alec MacDowell on the duty roster, this place is gonna be crawling with SFs."

She quieted down as the young man held the door open for her.

The young man clapped and rubbed his hands together as he looked lustfully at the ordinance in the room with them.

"What are we looking for anyway?" Cordy asked as she helped him search.

"A HEAT RPG…" he said as he looked around the cramped room shoving boxes out of his way.

"A what?" she stopped and turned toward him. She did not recognize the alphabet soup.

Xander rolled his eyes. "That's right," he said more to himself than to her, "you weren't at Manticore as long as I was. We're lookin' for a High Explosive Anti-Tank weapon that shoots Rocket Propelled Grenades," due to his eidetic memory, he was able to quote ver batum from the training manual. "It's commonly known as a bazooka."


	7. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

…Come You Masters of War...

Xander and Buffy stood behind Giles' in his office and watched the older man as he examined the wooden crate on his desk.

It was so silent after the Watcher opened the lock on the long crate.

The easy silence was broken by the shrill tone from Xander's new cell phone. Nearly everyone now thought that sound was very aggravating.

"Yeah, talk to me," he said as he moved to stand near the door. "I can barely hear you," he nearly yelled into the phone to be heard over the loud, thrumming music. "Hell yeah!" he exclaimed nearly joyfully, "I owe you one, man."

"We go to the factory first," Buffy said after Xander finally put the annoying contraption away. "They might still be there."

"No," Xander said, disagreeing with a decisive shake to his head. They both turned to him, "My source says they're headed to the mall."

"Source?" Giles looked at the young man nearly in disgust.

"What source?" Buffy asked as she turned her head to him.

"Oh, no," the transgenic shook his head as he thought of the blond vampire that had been giving him useful information in exchange of bags of blood, "I ain't giving up my source." He frowned as he continued, "The man's reliable, I'm gonna take his word."

Buffy took a deep breath and said once more, firmly, "We go to the factory first."

"Nobody ever listens to me," the young man rolled his eyes as he said the words nearly under his breath.

Giles turned back to the crate and opened the lid.

Rolling with the punches, the young soldier moved to stand between Slayer and Watcher, "I guess I'll show you how to use this then."

…I Want to Live at the Mall…

The main entrance to the mall was suddenly awash with noise as three sets of double doors opened and two master vampires, two dozen minions and one large, blue demon entered and stood just inside the foyer.

"Lock the exits," Angelus commanded as he followed The Judge through the corridor.

"It's all yours," he said as he waved his hand toward the interior of the mall.

…Are You Ready? For What's to Come...

Xander smirked self-satisfied as he followed the women out of the elevator and said, "I'm not gonna tell you I told you so."

Cordelia smiled up at him, a different kind of light in her dark eyes than usual.

Buffy frowned up at the teen but remained silent.

Xander helped Giles carry the crate, though Xander held it in such a way that he took the brunt of the weight. Giles could tell that the boy carried mostly all of the weight, but remained silent. He decided that he would confront him about it later.

The group of Scoobies began to move into position.

…I'll Blow Anything I Want to Kingdom Come …

Buffy's crossbow bolt met its target, the chest of The Judge, as she stood on the table in the Food Court of the Sunnydale Mall.

"Who dares?" the blue demon scowled as he pulled the shaft from his chest and glowing, white blood oozed before the wound healed quickly.

"That got his attention," Cordelia stated sarcastically from her hiding place behind a table.

"Fools!" The Judge exclaimed, "No weapon forged by man can stop me."

"That was then," Buffy quipped as she grabbed the bazooka from Xander and set it on her shoulder. She powered the weapon up and flipped the plastic safety above the switch.

"Fire in the hole," Xander yelled as he and Cordy ducked and covered their sensitive ears, pushing tight to minimize the damage from the blast.

"This is now," the blonde Slayer deadpanned as she depressed the button.

The Judge exploded into thousands of bits of flesh after everyone ducked out of the way.

"Best present ever," Buffy quipped as she handed it back to the transgenic.

"He must be dead now," Xander said as he looked out over the detritus littering mall.

"We need to pick up the pieces to be sure," Giles said.

Cordelia frowned as she watched Buffy dive off the table and run after Angelus, "Pieces?! That's bullshit. Why can't she help us instead of running off to play with the nomlies?!"


	8. Epilogue

Epilogue

…Back to Life, Back to Reality…

Rupert Giles moved over to the table in the library and sat in front of Cordelia Chase and Xander Harris, his charges.

"You mean to tell me," he hedged as he cleaned his glasses, "That you both remember everything from Halloween? Have been changed by it?"

"Yes, sir," the young man nodded respectfully as he sat straight and stiff in his chair.

Cordy elbowed him in the side.

He grunted slightly, "You're not gonna get rid of nineteen years of subordinate behavior overnight, Maxie," he said by way of explanation.

"This is the dealio," Cordy said as she turned to look at Giles once more. "It seems to me that Alec, er, Xander and I have blended with the personas that we took on Halloween night."

"But how?" the Watcher asked as he eyed them owlishly, "I had Jenny look Manticore up on that infernal machine and she came up empty other than the bygone monster. I also had her look up Max Guevara and Alec MacDowell and nothing."

Xander shrugged, "I originally had the idea to go as a generic soldier… I have no idea what would have triggered my becoming what I am now."

"What did you have with you that night?" Giles asked him, "It seemed as though all of the creatures running around were fictitious. How would you two fit in if your characters were from a war torn, post Apocalyptic North America?"

Thinking for a moment, Xander said, "Grey shirt, green fatigues, the toy AK from the store, the toy glock from home, my boots and my bag."

"What boots?" Cordelia asked excitedly.

A black, leather boot clad foot with a single bucket over the instep clumped onto the table.

"Those are Alec's boots," Cordy exclaimed.

"I know they're my boots," Xander agreed as he put his foot down.

"I mean that those are probably what triggered the regression, you moron," Cordelia dropped the dumb Valley Girl routine when they were not with the others.

"Shut up, Maxie," the young man's brow furrowed as he looked at her guardedly.

"What did you wear, Cordelia?" Giles asked as he tried to maneuver the conversation away from a verbal sparring match.

"Originally I was gonna go as a cat, I saw something at Party City that I thought I'd like," the young woman said thoughtfully. "But, then I passed that shop and noticed the black bodysuit in the window and couldn't pass it up. I had the boots and gloves at home."

"Then it was the housebreaker suit," Xander nodded for sure.

"So what does this mean for you?" the Englishman asked as he looked at the two young people in concern.

Alec sat up straight in his chair as he looked up at the librarian and said, "I was genetically engineered to be a light combat stealth unit." He sounded like he was reciting from a report. "I was designed specifically for solo missions, although I have led a few successful team missions." He looked down at the table, not proud, he continued, disgusted, "Assassinations." He looked back up at Giles, pleading for the older man to understand, "I've even gone done black-ops. I, we," he corrected quickly, "have enhanced strength, speed, senses and higher intelligence. I can blend in with the general populace and adapt quickly to different scenarios. Max, or Cordelia, is too… or would have been if she'd completed her training. Except that she was designed for night combat."

Giles nodded thoughtfully, "As you know, you both have my complete trust in this matter. I understand full well the implications of secrets being revealed."

Xander and Cordelia looked up at the librarian, their mentor, more father figure than their own parents and smiled benignly at him.

"What was up with that," Cordy piped up as she turned to the other X5 and mocked, "Lieutenant Colonel Alec MacDowell?"

He looked at her a long moment before he smirked, "I didn't lie… I am a lieutenant colonel, or at least I was…" he looked away from her and she thought he was finished. "I was transgen Liaison to the Director bitch of Manticore, affectionately known as Renfro. I was also CO of my unit... of which, Cece and Biggs were a part of."

The brunette May Queen looked at him in stunned silence for a long moment… "But you were such a screw-up."

"I presented you with something you wanted to see," he told her straightforward.

Cordelia looked at him for a long, silent moment.

Giles cleared his throat and both X5s turned their intense gazes on him. "Is there anything else I should know?"

Cordelia's shoulders slumped slightly in a defeated posture; she did not want to tell anyone about her weaknesses. But she and Alec had spoken about it earlier and they decided that they had to confide in at least one person. Of everyone, they trusted Giles the most.

Xander sucked it up and continued his explanation as clinically as possible. "Us X5s are prone to epileptic-like seizures due to a brain chemistry imbalance. We need a steady supply of tryptophan or some such derivative to keep them under control. We haven't experienced them yet, but given our history, probabilities indicate we'll have them sooner or later. We've been real careful about eating turkey and drinkin' milk so far to counteract the deficiency. Both Max and I are lucky, being as were both clones, we never suffered from Progeria… I think its due to the fact that neither of us have junk DNA."

Cordy frowned as she remembered her X7 clone, old and grey. She looked at him with a surprised expression on her face, she had not known that about him.

"Anything else?" Giles asked as he cleaned his glasses once more.

Cordy looked down at the table, visibly upset.

The young soldier put his hand on her shoulder as he spoke once more, "The females of the species experience a crazed, mating frenzy we call Heat. It happens about three times a year."

"I'm not so sure of my cycle," the young woman blushed along with Giles as she spoke. She swallowed nervously as she continued. "It's been a while since my last one…" she trailed off thoughtfully.

"You could have one at any time," Xander looked at her wide eyed.

She looked at him, wide eyed. "Alec," she whispered, "what am I going to do when a heat hits me?"

Xander thought before answering with Alec's trademark smirk, "We'll just have to cross that bridge when it's burnin'."


End file.
